Letters



(No Modgl.) I v FASTENING DEVICE "FOR ENVELOPES -LETTERS, 6:0. No.518,109. Patented Apr. 10,1894.

N WITNESSES: I INVENTOI? J M 6201421272 6772272016.

\ BY W g Y ATTORNEYS.

'I'NI NATIONAL Lmwuumma coMPANY. WAsx-uumou. n. c.

NITE STATE-s PATEN Fries.

FASTENING DEVICE FOR ENVELOPES, LETTERS, 86C- SPECIFICATION forrningpart of Letters Patent No. 518,109, dated April 10, 1894.

Application filed August 10, 1 893 To alt whom it may concern:

0 Be 1t known that I, GEORGE F.'LEMMON, residing at St. Augustine, inthe county'of St. Johns and State of Florida, have invented a 5 new andImproved Fastening Device for Envelopes, Letters, &c., of which thefollowing is a specification.

I My invention is in the nature of a metallic seal more especiallyadapted for use in conneotion with letters, inolosed papers, envelopes,postage stamps, &c., but also'capable for use to receive delicatematerial, soft or thin articles and the like.

My invention has for its object to provide a d ev1ce ofthis characterwhich will serve as a simple and efiective locking means, whereby thecontents of the envelope and the stamp are secured to such envelope, insuch a manner that the said envelope cannot be open ed, or the contentstampered with without injury thereto. Witlrother objects in view, whichwill hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the peculiar andnovel arrangement and combinatlon of parts, such as hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in theclaims, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of astamped envelope and my improved fastening devices as applied for use.Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the fastening plates. Fig. 3 is atransverse section of a pair of such fasten- 1ng plates on an enlargedscale as applied to an envelope and its contents. Fig. 4 is a1ongitudinal section of the same taken on the line 44 Fig. 3. Figs. 5and 5 are views on an enlarged scale of a portion of the plateillustrating the preferred construction of the prongs. Fig. 6 is a viewof a modified shape of one of the fastening plates. Fig. 7 is adiagrammatic view hereinafter specifically referred to. r

My improvement consists primarily, of a fasteningplate formed of somelight metal, preferably aluminum, and such plate has a series of prongsstruck up and bent in reverse directions, whereby it can be readilyattached at one side to the letter, or other article, while the otherside can be secured to the envelope or other object, or serve asareceiving or hold- SerialNo.482,837. (NomddeL) ing portion, for thepostage stamps, orna mentation tag, and the like.

Referring to the accompanying drawings A indicates one of my improvedfastening plates, which may, in practice, be square, circular, oblong,or any desired ornamental shape, and is usually made in diiferent sizes,for use, with difierent sized envelopes, packages, time.

By reference to Fig. 2, it will be noticed that the plate A has stampedup at its outer edges a series of prongs B, which project downward fromface a of the plate, and a series of prongs O whichproject up from suchface near the central portion thereof. Grooves D and E are also formedon the face a at points inside the prongs B and C, the purpose of whichwill presently appear. The prongs B and C may be formed of the ordinarytang as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, butI prefer in practice to form suchprongs of the shape shown in Figs. 5 and 5*, by reference to which itWill be noticed that the base of the prong has a contracted neck,whereby shoulders I) are formed, which serve to retard the withdrawal 0fthe same from the article to which it is secured, and as a further meansof holding such prongs from withdrawal without tearing or marring thearticle or paper, I form them with serrated edges b as shown.

, In the practical construction of the plates they are usually made whenused for sealing envelopes or other closed packages in sets or pairs,1'. 6. two plates adapted to be closely clamped together are used, andsuch plates have their prongs and grooves projected from the bodyproper, so that they will be alternately disposed when laid together-asshown,

in the diagrammatic view Fig.7, and when used for such purpose one ofsuch plates is used as what I term an inner and the other an outerplate,-it being manifestly understood from the drawings that either ofsuch plates may be used as an inner or outer plate.

In operation, when used as an envelope, postage stamp, and letter seal,the inner plate is first secured by its prongs B, to the letter or otherdesired inolosure, the prongs B being clamped down by any suitable pressor other means, after which the inolosure or letter and the plate withits outer prongs 0 still projected, is inserted in the envelope, afterwhich by pressure the prongs are forced through the rear side of theenvelope and clamped thereto, thereby securing the contents to theenvelope in such a manner that such envelope must necessarily bemutilated before the contents could be removed. The flap of the envelopeis then folded down, and the other plate is laid over such folded edgeand to register with inner plate, and the stamp forced down over thecentral or outwardly projecting prongs C, after which the outer plate ispressed by any suitable hand press against the inner plate, and owing tothe grooves in the inner plate, the prongs B on the outer plate will themore readily puncture the envelope, and as they strike the base of suchgrooves will be quickly and efiectively turned and clamped under theinner face of the envelope, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, it being obviousthat at the same time the outer prongs C will be turned down to clampthe stamp in place.

It will be readily seen from the foregoing that the use of sealing wax,gum and the like can be dispensed with, and by providing the prongs withserrated portions or barbs as shown they will have double the holdingpower on the material or articles inclosed between the pronged plates,and as such plates are compactly pressed together, they will not mar thefront face of the envelope and interfere with the proper addressing ofthe same.

thus described my invention, what Havin T in Letters Pat- I claim, anddesire to'secure by cut, is-

1. An improved fastener for envelopes letters and postage stamps,comprising an inner plate having projecting prongs at one side adaptedto be secured to the letter or inclosure and outwardly extending prongsadapted to be secured to the envelope, an outer plate having prongs onits under face to engage the envelope and prongs on its outer face toreceive and clamp the postage stamp all substantially as shown and forthe purposes described. j

2. An improved fastener for letters envelopes and postage stamps,comprising an inner plate having projecting prongs on one face near itsouter edges, and prongs projected from its opposite face, grooves insuch faces, running parallel with such prongs, a second or outer platehaving prongs projected from its opposite faces, and running groovesparallel to such prongs, said prongs and grooves being arrangedalternately to the prongs and grooves in thelower plate, whereby theprongs of one plate will engage the grooves in the other plate when bothplates are pressed together all arranged as and for the purposes shownand described.

- GEORGE F. LEMMON.

Witnesses:

FRED G. DIETERICH, SOLON G. KEMoN.

